A proposal to build a $30-million card casino in Mission Valley could not make the opening bid at San Diego City Hall on Monday, as the City Council rejected the plan by reaffirming a policy aimed at gradually phasing out card rooms. Although the council framed its rejection in the strongest possible terms, the casino's proponents pledged to bring the proposal back to City Hall for a future hearing--perhaps after Mayor Maureen O'Connor, an ardent opponent, retires in December.

The Times quotes Mayor O'Connor ("Mayor Sticks to Her Guns on Voluntary Rationing," March 16) saying, "We're possibly at the end of the drought." Please mayor, let's plan for the worst, not the best. God only helps those who help themselves. As for voluntary water cutbacks, I voluntarily submit to reasonable mandatory cuts. Let's not put it off any longer. BRIAN C. BANISTER, San Diego

In her State of the City address last year, San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor unveiled her dream for a new central library on Lane Field, a highly visible waterfront site at the foot of Broadway downtown. It is one of her best ideas as mayor, far more meaningful than a Soviet Arts Festival featuring Faberge eggs.

The NFL has recently announced that it will not hold the 1993 Super Bowl in Arizona, because Arizona voters voted against a referendum to make Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday a state holiday. Stop the car, Mayor O'Connor. How dare you invite the NFL to San Diego when our city's voting record on Dr. King is equally as bad as Arizona's? Convention Center, Market Street: Ring a bell? TONY ROMERO San Diego

The purpose of this letter is to let you know that I wholeheartedly support Mayor O'Connor's initiative regarding the Soviets Arts Festival. I believe that this imaginative and exciting idea will help the city both economically and culturally. I am equally convinced that the Festival will also support the expanding and sorely needed dialogue between the United States and Russia. Yes, indeed, I support, and will continue to support, the Soviet Arts Festival project. BRUCE A. WORCESTER La Jolla

I am alarmed when I read the opinions of some who claim that the mayor has put undue emphasis on the arts at the expense of other important issues. Though the upcoming art exchange with the Russians will be a major event, the mayor has not lost sight of her civic responsibilities. We must not forget the mayor's other accomplishments and goals. Mayor O'Connor has always fought to save San Diego from growing too fast. By regulating growth with the IDO, this city has been spared the rapid growth which has plagued the Los Angeles basin.

I was surprised to read that Mayor O'Connor, most of the San Diego City Council, and other citizens marched in downtown San Diego in a crusade for Gov. Deukmejian to give the city $34 million to fight drugs and crime. It was just a month ago that the same mayor and City Council had passed a resolution to be sent to the President, the Department of Justice and members of Congress to postpone action on the proposed 4 1/2-mile ditch along the Mexican border, where an estimated 12 cars and trucks a night are dashing across into San Diego.

In his commentary "Mayor Is Going Places, But What About City She Promised to Lead?" (Sept. 6), Mr. McDade does not prominently publish his credential as former chief of staff in Mayor Hedgecock's Administration, nor does he state that Mayor O'Connor was forced to take the helm and become the captain of a ship that was literally run aground by Roger Hedgecock. Indeed, I invite the reader to inquire of any Navy captain who has had the unenviable task of succeeding a predecessor who has run a ship aground.

Mayor Maureen O'Connor would do well to smile and say nothing when it comes to addressing the homeless, as she invariably ends up with her foot in her mouth. In January, 1987, Mayor O'Connor asked homeless people who entered City Council chambers asking for jobs to leave their names and addresses and she would get back to them. Her comments were met by "boos," as these people were homeless. This month, the mayor made another "frozen" statement when two members of the Coalition for the Homeless, after a 24-hour vigil outside City Hall, led a small group of homeless into council chambers, then presented her with 5,330 petition signatures.

Adding a new wrinkle to San Diego's long-running airport debate, Mexican officials on Wednesday offered a counterproposal to the idea of a binational airfield: the expansion of Tijuana's existing airport to serve both cities. Communications and Transportation Minister Andres Caso Lombardo also suggested appointing a joint committee to study the San Diego and Mexican proposals and reach a compromise.

San Diego Housing Commission members loyal to Executive Director Evan Becker on Tuesday blocked a City Council attempt to tear up Becker's $93,700-a-year contract and launch an 11th-hour evaluation of his performance. The commission's refusal to go along with the council plan created an unusual standoff between the two agencies, postponing action until Friday on an apparent bid by Mayor Maureen O'Connor to force Becker from the office he has held for nearly three years.

Proclaiming herself "Miracle Mo," San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor said Thursday that her leadership in blocking the attempted takeover of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. "not only will be my political legacy, but may expand it" by giving her added clout to push for two major pet projects.

Public affairs. * Hard-boiled. The father of a 2-year-old girl who found a large plastic egg donated by Mayor Maureen O'Connor to the La Jolla Easter Egg Hunt has angrily returned the egg's contents. Along with a letter upbraiding the mayor for her personal water use and allegedly "exploiting a child's Easter joy for political propaganda."

The Times quotes Mayor O'Connor ("Mayor Sticks to Her Guns on Voluntary Rationing," March 16) saying, "We're possibly at the end of the drought." Please mayor, let's plan for the worst, not the best. God only helps those who help themselves. As for voluntary water cutbacks, I voluntarily submit to reasonable mandatory cuts. Let's not put it off any longer. BRIAN C. BANISTER, San Diego

As the first heavy rain in months began to fall last week, Mayor Maureen O'Connor "strongly" suggested that San Diegans turn off their automatic sprinkler systems. "The mayor said the projected rainfall will throughly saturate the ground and preclude the need for watering," noted a press release that urged what many Southern California cities have already required. Welcome to California's most serious drought ever, San Diego-style.

The NFL has recently announced that it will not hold the 1993 Super Bowl in Arizona, because Arizona voters voted against a referendum to make Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday a state holiday. Stop the car, Mayor O'Connor. How dare you invite the NFL to San Diego when our city's voting record on Dr. King is equally as bad as Arizona's? Convention Center, Market Street: Ring a bell? TONY ROMERO San Diego